Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, 8/21/22. The text was Luke 13:10-17 . It’s easy to identify what God is up to in today’s gospel, “God is reaching out to the bound-up to proclaim release from captivity…God is satisfying the needs of the afflicted…a precious daughter…of Abraham [is] set free” (sundaysandseasons.com). In this case of Jesus healing, the woman or her friends are not initiating the healing. It totally belongs to Jesus. He was in the middle of teaching and seeing her, stops what he’s doing.  Being of shorter stature than most, I can identify with the woman. We are not often seen. At the deli counter or pharmacy, I typically have to call out to get the attention of someone behind the counter.  The woman could not see Jesus—not all bent over with her eyes facing the floor. Jesus saw her. She did not have to look to him for healing, but was used to her situation, as painful as it was. But Jesus saw her. He not only saw her, but c...

This is the message I shared with the people of St. Timothy on Sunday, 11/11/18. The text was Mark 12:38-44. Ahhh…a passage like this is music to the ears of all those involved in church finances. Here we have the selfish scribes pitted against the generous, sacrificially giving widow. Jesus lifts the widow up as an example of how we should give, doesn’t he…or does he?  This incident occurs at the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Other chapters include incidents that point to the corruption of the Temple and the growing opposition of the religious authorities to Jesus. The scribes’ habitual behavior as a group gets severe criticism. But beyond the scribes’ actions, are the desire to do such things. It is the scribes’ inward desires and wants that are the ultimate issue. The Jewish community was centered in its regard for God’s Law, Torah, its interpretation and application. The scribe was an important and duly honored person. However, their practices were pretentious: str...